The Crowned Heads
by Ann-Stripes
Summary: After Ichigo loses his powers some things around him change. A couple of stories taking place after (and sometimes before) the winter war that may or may not lead up to something. Featuring Gods, Kings, Humans and Ghosts.
1. Chapter 1 - King (1)

After Ichigo loses his powers some things around him change. A couple of stories taking place after (and sometimes before) the winter war that may or may not lead up to something. Featuring Gods, Kings, Humans and Ghosts. Though Ichigo´s story is the main plot it is not Ichigo centric as there are also (mainly) subplots

No pairings! Follows canon loosely. Man, this is the kind of fanfic I'd rather read than write...

I hope you will now forever read this fanfic picturing Kubo's old art style. If you stick around long enough, that is.

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**Chapter 1. **

**King [part one]  
Another day, feel the ground and worry.**

**-``-``-``-``-``-``-``-B-L-E-A-C-H-``-``-``-``-``-``-``**

Ruthless, the boy took his arm and threw the other man on the ground, stomping a bit on the back of his head as he glared at the horrified faces of the others. Blood had started to drop of his hands onto his pants, but he didn't care as the young man's face only focused on his attackers. His brown eyes looked around the crowd that was gathered before him, waiting for a chance to strike the red haired teen. Futile as it was, for the boy could and _would_ easily sweep the weak gang down.

"I thought you guys would know better by now," the boy growled while cracking his knuckles. He wiped some blood off hands and flung it to the ground. '''I thought I had said to not keep bothering me, eh?''

''S-sorry, Kurosaki-san. We eh, we promise it won't happen again!'' Ichigo stepped of Oshima's head, walked towards the one who had spoken up to him and punched him in the face. They were practically screaming by now. Those bastards really didn't learn. Oshima, however, still didn't appear to be finished with him in the least, despite that his face was beaten, covered with bruises and blood. His nose looked broken and his voice cracked. It sounded like he had catched a cold. Or a bad case of his nose being filled up with blood. The gang leader pulled himself up with his elbows, barely rising at all.

''Oi, ya bunch a weak assholes! Speak fer ya selfs. I still have ta- '' but the man was cut off by Ichigos leg kicking him down. The boy sighted, not caring what the other had to say. Did he really have to go through all this trouble, day after day, hearing the same old shit that was spewed about his hair, and take care of those annoying thugs who would ever provoke him for a fight. He wondered if it always had been like this, fighting some street gangs in the morning whose names he couldn't even remember, but still harbored some grudge against him, only to fight the same stupid assholes after school again. Had he always been this bored before while doing so? He now spent more time kicking down random punks than spending time with his friends. Not that he particularly liked spending time with them, especially not that Keigo idiot.

Ichigo looked at his wristwatch, showing him it was almost 7. He cursed at himself and his attackers for slowing him down. He had wasted almost a whole hour to these losers. Why did his dad have to be so ridiculously in his rules regarding his curfew. What normal teen had to be home at 6? Shouldn't he have more freedom as a youngster enjoying his time he had when he was still young? But Ichigo was not stupid, he knew why he had to be home so early so he usually got along with what his old man said. Still, a little later would have been nice.

"Now, if you nice gentleman would be so nice to not bother me again," -fat chance- "I am done here. I do have some place to go. You run of to your chicken nest or whatever dirt hole it is you live in."

Leaving the stunned and beaten faces of his attackers behind -half of them were kicked down and probably couldn't move because of this- the boy took of.

Knowing his pops, he would probably try to kick his face screaming "ICHIGOOOOO!" and tell him how proud he was of his son to dodge that, rambling of over how well he had taught him and then scolding him for coming home too late. When he opened the front door he instinctively dodged, ducked and slipped past his father who, he now realized, had stood completely still. Ichigo, feeling a bit embarrased, turned around to look at his father's face. Normally he would have this overly happy peppy face, doing things with his facial muscles no normal man of forty could manage, but now he wore a serious face, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. Ichigo couldn't help but feel a little guilty, but pushed it aside as he thought of who it was that made him feel that way.

"Ichigo," the man began, rubbing his hand over his face. Why did it look so pained?

"What." The teen replied cold.

"Listen, son, I know it's hard for you to deal with this, but..."

Ichigo, knowing very well where his dad was going, didn't want to hear the man's blabbering nonsense. Getting sappy wasn't on his list for today. He just wanted to go to his room, study some and come back downstairs for dinner and go up again. Fighting made his head hurt and arms tired. Conversations with his dad too.

"Look, I saved Karakura, beat the guy's ass and returned to my normal life. That's a good thing right? Nothing more to worry about." The teen turned around, grabbed the railing of the staircase and jumped on the first few steps, but his father was having none of that.

"ICHIGO!" With a booming voice Isshin made his son flinch and stop in his tracks. With his back still turned to his father, the boy listened. "Don't give me that bullshit. We all know there is something going on with you. You haven't been sleeping well lately, your grades have been dropping, though you spent all your time at school and at home studying, and then we have the fights..."

Staring down at his feet, Ichigo tightened his grip on the staircase and realized he still had some blood on his hands. He thought of who this "we" could be. He swore under his breath at himself for being so obvious and his friends for worrying too much. Without thinking, he smeared the blood on his pants. Father and son stood still like that for a moment before the older man spoke up again, now in a much calmer manner.

''Sitting at home isn't good for you. Keep yourself busy, son. Get a job or join a school activity or whatever. I'll even raise curfew. Just... Just get out of the house once in a while."

Ichigo turned his head and looked his father in the eyes for a brief moment. Concern was spreading the man's face, eyebrows still furrowed and eyes that seemed to look into the boy's soul. Ichigo looked away. He heard his father walking out of the hallway, leaving his son, who now stared down at the steps again, alone. Slipping his hand off the railing, Ichigo turned, sat down on the steps and crossed his arms over his knees, resting his head on them. He sat like this for a while, recollecting the fights he had been in that day.

They would come in armies nowadays, thinking they had any chance if they came with more. But despite the number of attackers, Ichigo had never needed any back-up from Chad. He wasn't sure it was because the punks had become weaker or if he had become stronger. He chuckled at that thought. Maybe it was because their attacks were so obvious and their defense full with holes. In no time he had kicked every last one to the ground. They would stagger up and hobble away, tails between their legs. It was so damn easy nowadays.

Maybe his old man was right. Maybe he_ should _find something else to do after school. Momohara and Satoda had asked him countless of times to join their clubs. Satoda had even offered him money the last time he asked.

Deciding that he wasn't hungry when Yuzu called him in for dinner, he went up to take a shower and washed the remaining blood off his hands.

* * *

Ichigo walked alongside Chad the next day. It was completely silent between the two of them as neither of them had much to say. It was a sunny day and not a single group of delinquents had shown up to bother the two boys, to their surprise, as even Chad was bothered on a regular basis. For the first time in weeks, Ichigo felt that he could finaly walk calmly to school. Vaguely, he could hear the steady beat of Chad's music coming from the taller boy's headphones, whom he still had the fashion of wearing upside down. Trying to hear the lyrics of the song his best friend was listening to, he leaned in a little. The Hellacopters, of course. The boy smiled to himself as they remained to walk in silence together, enjoying the music. Their moment of peace was rudely interrupted when Chad suddenly snapped his head up, stopping in his tracks and startling his friend.

''Oi, Chad, what is it?'' Though the redhead had a feeling he already knew.

"A hollow," the big man replied. Ichigo watched his friend's eyes following something invisible through the sky before coming to a halt. "Ichigo, jump aside."

Doing so, Ichigo skipped away from him, feeling a rush of cold air sweep over his head that went towards the other boy's direction. The teen wondered why Chad hadn't activated his armoured arms as it was usually his weapon of choice when fighting hollows. Ichigo stood in the middle of the road a couple of feet away from the other, watching his best friend dodge something invisible and punch empty air. Swiftly, the tall boy moved around the masked ghosts, seeming not once to be hit. Not being able to see spirits made him wonder if he had looked this ridiculous too, dancing around on the ground sweeping in all directions. His fingers twitched with the need to smash a hollow's face. Damn, he wanted to help his friend. But he knew that Chad could fairly well take care of himself.

Ichigo was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of an impact that crashed into the stone wall close to Sado. Chunks of stone flew and a cloud of dust swept around both the boys, making them cover their faces and cough. When the dust cleared the taller one stood still in an end pose, arm facing towards the wall. In a length of three feet the wall was completely smashed, an unclear silhouette of a monster's imprint left in the stone. Ichigo figured Chad had taken care of the hollow, but to be sure, he waved to him.

"You finished it off?" the redhead shouted. A thumbs up came in reply, but was quickly dismissed as the tan boy's eyes focused on something behind Ichigo.

"Behind you, Ichigo!"

Before Ichigo had the time to turn around he suddenly felt something big hit him hard in his stomach. With an "Ugh." he landed on the hard ground, his back arching in pain. To looking up from the ground, he raised himself on his elbows. He saw his friend run forward and punch the invisible foe, making the ground tremble as it came down. With a grunt Ichigo stood up, clenching his left shoulder on which he had fallen. His elbows were bruised and drops blood dripped out of the wounds. He felt the back of his head for any damage and furrowed his brows when his fingers were coated with blood.

"Where is it?" he wanted to ask when Chad looked around helplessly, but he refrained from doing so when he felt a cold breath of air in his neck. Neck hairs stood straight as a cold shiver made his way down his spine.

In a brim of a second Ichigo turned around, holding his arms in the ready, legs spread apart, and his body slightly hunched over. He flung forward, punching the invisible monster square in its mask and felt fractions of the Hollow's bone mask crumble around his fist. Just as his fist hit the monster's face he heard something crack in his hands. Swearing softly he took his hand back, clutching it to his body and cringed. A throbbing pain invaded his fingers as he held his hand. That hurt more than it used to. He put his head in his neck and fought back the loud curses that he locked away behind his clenched teeth. Behind him he heard Chad running to his side. With a small cry he looked at his hand and saw his fingers were swollen, standing in an odd angle and had turned purple. Blood had begun to drip from his knuckles. He looked to his right into Chad's worried face.

"It'll be fine," he straightened his back, holding his hand to his torso. "Did I kill it?"

Chad gave his friend a smile and a thumbs up again, making the other teen feel glad he was not reduced to complete uselessness when it came to beating a Hollow's ass. As he had no such thing as a cloth or spare shirt with him, he ripped a piece of his school blouse off and fastened it delicately around his hand.

Without a word, the two boys continued their walk towards school again.

When arriving he immediately went to the school nurse, knowing from experience that doctors didn't take too kindly in patients only asking for help when it was too late (Captain Unohana, for example), and his father would bug him to anyway before inspecting him himself. Putting his hand on the white table, the nurse gave him a skeptical look. She looked at the blood that came from his scalp, running down his neck and his bend fingers, and his torn blouse, eyes ogling between his face and hand. She walked towards the cupboards and pulled out bandage and gauze.

"Please, sit down Kurosaki."

She gestured towards a table for two in the corner of the room. He did as she said and sat down. Putting his arms on the table he noticed there was still some grains of stone stuck in his elbows. He rubbed over them and the little chunks fell out, leaving rough bulges in his arms. The nurse walked up to him and dumped some materials on the table. She grabbed a cloth and started to clean most of the blood off from his head and neck, making him hiss slightly at the cold cloth that was being pushed against his sensitive flesh. Most of the blood had been wiped away and the nurse started to bind the back of his head with gauze and bandage. When done, she grabbed a pair of scissors from the table and cut off the remaining bandage.

Not being able to say something of value the boy had sat silently in the chair, body slightly hunched and arms crossed on the table. Letting it all wash over him, he felt that he kind of liked being treated like this. Someone who would not let any measly wound, no matter how small, go unnoticed. It had been a while ago since someone had thoroughly treated all his injuries. The only downside was probably that this was the school nurse. The lady walked around the boy and sat down at his opposite. She folded her hands and locked eyes with the teen's scowling ones.

"Did you get this while fighting again, Kurosaki-san?"

It wasn't the first time he had visited the school nurse as this also wasn't the first time he got wounded in a fight before school started. Before, he didn't even bother to visit the school nurse, but his teacher hadn't been to keen on keeping a bloody and beaten school boy in her class so the boy was forced to get himself treated by the medic. This was one of the reasons the teachers in Karakura High had learned about the status as a delinquent Ichigo had gained over the years. This also ment not all of his teachers acted too kindhearted towards him. Yeah, he had visited the nurse quite a lot. It had been quite some time ago, though.

The teen remained still as he didn't know if he should be affected by what this woman had to say about his looks. Rather, he went with it.

''Yeah, I got into a fight,'' Looking down at the nurse, he yanked his hand away from the medic's soft touch, ignoring the numbing throb in his fingers, and crossed his arms. ''_Again_.''

The lady sighted at the boy's action, putting a hand to her forehead.

''Look, Kurosaki. I don't actually care what you do outside of school as you seem to handle it pretty well, but Masato has asked me to check up on you every once in a while.'' Ichigo huffed at that. As if his teacher had ever worried about him. She didn't care when he dissapeared from class for no reason, leaving a half assed excuse to back it up. She would just shove it off to him being a punk. ''I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me," and he added mumbling "Not like you would understand it anyway."

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

The teen slouched in his chair. Uncomfortable, as he couldn't hold his arms crossed because of his fingers that had begun to throb painfully. He sighted, what was it with everybody and worrying so much over him? If anything, things were getting better. He could now focus more on his schoolwork, despite what his father says, because he didn't have to worry about fighting hollows off anymore, as his friends now took care of that. He wasn't bothered by random spirits floating before his eyes, begging him to carry out their last wishes. Most importantly, he didn't have to worry about his evil hollow side trying to take over his body anymore. Though he missed fighting alongside Zangetsu, and maybe the daily bickering with Rukia, he certainly didn't miss the bothersome and annoying ghosts and hollows he had to fight off every day.

Carefully, he put his arms on the table, not trying to move his hand too much. Noticing this, the nurse focused herself back on the boy's hand again.

"Anyway," She took his wrist again. "The bones in your fingers, except your thumb, are broken. Your father is a doctor right?" The boy nodded in affirmation. "You don't seem to have an concussion, but I suggest you go home and let him handle this further. I'll call him for a heads up. And don't worry about class, I'll sent your teacher a note."

Even though Ichigo didn't want to deal with his father now and would rather stay at school, he nodded. Tomorrow would be the day to join the soccer club then. Well, more spare time was never wrong, he guessed. With a sight he shoved his chair back and stood up. Giving the nurse a small nod he made way to the door before being halted by the woman.

"And Mr. Kurosaki," the boy turned his head lazily towards the lady. ''Don't run into any fights, will you?"

The boy looked down, shrugged and gave her a apologetic look, for as far as he could make one.

"I'll see what I can do."

And with that, he left the office, leaving a worry ridden nurse behind. The woman sighted and shook her head.

"Depression can really do things to a person," she mumbled softly to herself.

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**I have edited this fanfic like 200 times after I said to myself that it was done. If you see any mistakes please leave a private message.**  
**Constructive criticism favored!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Human (1)

I'm not going to translate the terms in this fanfic as, after like 300 episodes and 500 chapters, you really ought to know them.

A more upbeat chapter! (i hope) Warning: Usage of slurs (more than a little).

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**Chapter 2**

**Human [part one]  
Superheroes and Ultraviolet Villains**

**-``-``-``-``-``-``-``-B-L-E-A-C-H-``-``-``-``-``-``-``**

Orihime was not the kind of girl to take offensive actions, though, it is a misunderstanding to call her weak. Due to having a kindhearted nature, she used to get bullied and picked on often. Now, when random shinigami passed her by they would still call her that. After all, they were the ones who all had fought great wars and battles in the living world. It wasn't like she would get mad at the people who called her out for being so weak and dumb. She'd only grow sad, making her wish she could at least be a bit stronger. She wished that she could find the need to attack, even when others had already come to aid and she would stand back to fight weaker enemies so her friends -usually Ichigo- could take on the big guys from there.

It was because of this that Orihime had started to seriously train herself more. Everyday after dinner she went to the forest (making sure nobody saw her, wow that would be awkward) and practiced her attacks with Tsubaki. After a couple of weeks it had really begun to show off. First she could do so much as barely cutting a person in half, but now she could take down a whole set of trees in one big sweep! After she was satisfied with herself, she would recover the damaged trees with Sōten Kisshun to finish up her training.

She often imagined herself as a strong hero with her shoulders back, head held high and staring into the eyes of her enemy. Her cape would flutter behind her in the wind dramatically, casting a large shadow on the ones in distress. She would then speak words of confident to the people who she protected and curse creative insults with words she had yet to learn to the villains. Her muscles would be as big as one of those bulky masked men in latex, who fought each other in the ring on TV She wondered if she would grow chest hair too if she started weight training. Maybe her voice would become deep too. That would be so cool.

The wind that brushed her face was also cool. The cold was the last memory of winter as spring had begun to make itself known by filling her world around her with flowers. She stopped for a second to admire someone's garden before walking further. She shivered at the breeze and clutched her coat closer to herself. It was only the end of march, after all. She had to pay the rent for next month soon. Though her landlord was pretty kind, he was very precise in collecting rent. It was also almost time to send her aunt and uncle her grades so they could give her money for next month.

It was a good thing that she had found a job now. She often hadn't been able to pay the landlord with the money her family gave her, so she was forced to sleep in a cheap hotel until she had earned some more. Not wanting to be a burden anymore to her family, she had begun to search for a job a couple of months ago. Lots of people had rejected her as they found she was too young, or lacked experience. Finally, she had found a job at a bakery, quite a walk from home. The payment wasn't as much to pay the whole bills, but Orihime didn't complain. It was enough to add on with the fund her family gave her. Plus, the free bread was a nice extra. She only wished her boss would try some of the recepes she had suggested, though.

Next to her, from behind the fence that separated her and the park, she heard vague shouts and screams coming from a group of men. For a brief moment she looked at the rampaging gang and saw people being thrown harshly on the ground. Orihime looked down, not wanting to confront these people like they had done some time ago. With firm steps she walked past the park until she noticed something in the corner of her eye. Something white, skeletal, fearsome and dead.

In a millisecond the girl whipped her head towards the rumoring boys. A tall, white creature loomed over the group who were, she now saw, not taunting each other for fights, but screaming and kicking in fear for the being. What she heard as voices of over-encouragement were actually warning shouts towards their comrades, screaming at them to back up and not come any closer to the shadow.

As a trained fighter Orihime immediately knew what to do. She jumped over the fence that separated her and the gang and while running she summoned her Sun Sun Rikka, commanding Tsubaki to attack. From her hairpins an orange form emitted and flew forwards. The Hollow had caught up with the coming of the girl and now faced Orihime, tongue slightly hanging out of his mouth and dripping with hunger. As it saw the approaching orange light it covered it's face with muscular arms, but these were cut off with one slash. The Hollow roared in pain and bend it's frog-like legs, preparing to jump over to the girl.

Orihime came running next to the group and commanded them to take cover while still fucussed on the Hollow. She didn't want any more wounded, seeing as a couple of guys were bleeding and didn't seem to be able to stand. Orihime swept her arms before the Hollow with the graciousness of a ballet dancer and the strength of a gymnast, guiding Tsubaki to the monster's face. The men took their wounded comrades and hid behind the attributes in the children's playground. In a second the Hollow's mask was split and the creature's body began to splinter into the air.

Behind her, men had quivered and trembled at the sight of the beast that had suddenly appeared and had taken their comrades down. Not only for the creature they feared, but also for the girl. What power did this girl have to simply defeat the monster in two strikes? The men did not move an inch when the girl made her way to the group. As soon as she turned to them, her serious and foul expression made way for a big, genuine, but worried smile. Hair like water ripples waved behind her as she did so. Close to her ears they could make out a set of hairpins that seemed to glister in her moment of heroism.

"Is everyone okay?" the goddess asked them. They did not reply, stunned in her presence as they were. Her eyes scanned over the group, her sparkling lookers going big with worry at seeing all the vague marks -it had become rather dark- of cuts and bruises. Orihime knew that this group was mainly responsible for bothering her friends everyday, but could not help but pity them. Her first encounter with a Hollow hadn't been all sunshine either. Not that Hollow attacks could be fun.

What she wondered was though, how these people could suddenly see ghosts. Especially all of them together like this. There were around twenty of them and it didn't seem likely that everyone's grandma's were paranormal gifted and that the bunch had inherited their powers somehow. Had they always been able to see ghosts, or was it because of Ichigo? She wondered if Ichigo's spiritual presence had so far leaked out to cover the entire city and like that also over these boys. It was probably for best to tell Urahara about this, she decided.

Still receiving no reply, she leaned towards the closest nearby boy who had a huge gash in his arm. Before she could open her mouth and tell the man that it was okay and that she was going to help him, a tall lean man pointed accusingly a finger in her direction.

"What the hell was that thing? And it fuckin' attacked us?!"

It wasn't much of a question. More of an angry statement that he wanted to clarify, as if she hadn't noticed the monster that had been hunting them. The man craned his neck and looked at her foul. He pursed his lips and made good use of his high cheekbones, making it look as if he had the upper hand in this conversation, and looked down on the girl. Despite this, the blond -most likely bleached- man was shaking on his legs and leaned on a tree. Now that Orihime had stepped closer she saw that he had severely damaged it. Blood gashed out of the deep slashes in his legs and seeped through the fabric of his torn and ragged pants. Only pure stupidity was what still held him up.

She wanted to answer the man, but he spoke further.

"How the fuck did ya kill it? Ya didnt' even _touch_ it. We fought it, but it jus' wouldn't budge. Cocky motherfucker. Could've handled it ourselves though, if only you hadn't interrupted our fight."

Orihime did not interrupt to answer the man. Instead, she looked from his face to his leg and to his face again. She spoke up to the man with a calm voice.

"Please lay down. I can help you."

Though she was a bit frightened of the men, she felt it was her duty, as one with powers to help the ones in need. Even though she might not like the ones who she defended very much.

Stepping closer didn't seem to calm this man down at all. He began to raise his voice and shielded his arms in defense when she made a gesture to touch his arm.

"The fuck ya talkin' 'bout. Don't fuckin' touch me, bitch. "

"Oi! Stay the hell away from Oshima!"

Behind him, some of his henchmen were throwing a fit and asked among themselves if they should just punch the bitch in her face. Others looked in anticipation to what she would do. To their surprise -one screamed out as she made her move- the girl grabbed his left ear and yanked him down to the ground, making their leader cried out in surprise and pain -"Jesus christ!" and "You fuckin' whore!"- as he reached the ground.

He fell harshly on his side and was then laid flat on his back by her. Orihime didn't care that she heard some cracks coming from the man's legs -She would heal those immediately anyway. The broken bones made a crie erupt from the man's mouth again and he clutched them in the hope that the pain would lessen. Without pausing, Orihime summoned Shun'ō and Ayame to put up their healing shield. She hovered her hands above the luminous barrier and started the action.

It was hard enough to treat the man who had messed with Ichigo everyday for the past couple of months and had bullied and harassed (including her) more people than she could count on both hands.

"Please stay down," and facing the others. "If somebody is hurt, please let them come here too."

A couple of boys shyly made their way through the group, some being supported by others and some staggered to her side. Some moved hesitantly, and some as though she was their guardian angel, hopping to her as soon as she had spoken the words. They all kneeled before her and Orihime had to stifle a smile that wanted to creep on her face.

Now she was the one in charge. Who was the hero now, eh? Oh yeah. She had to tell her brother this.

"Please lay down next to each other."

They did as she ordered without a complaint . Through the orange glow of her Sōten Kisshun she could see the dazed faces of her admirers looking at the barrier around them and gasping as they saw their wounds slowly being patched up. They watched in amazement as they saw their arms, legs, torsos and even clothes being restored like a glitch in reverse.

Oshima hadn't whined any more and didn't move, but couldn't hold his curses at all. He muttered under his breath about how embarrassed he was to let a girl help him, but Orihime was used to this and simply ignored him.

It didn't take her long to patch them all up as there weren't many mayor injuries which didn't form a problem at all for the girl. After she was done healing all of the boys, she couldn't help but feel glad for her decision to train herself. She could finally take care of herself and others now. She didn't have to depend on her friends anymore.

After what seemed hours everyone was finally patched up. During the fights and healing her stomach had grumbled several times. If she raced home she would have time to prepare her food and not die of starvation. Before anyone could stop and thank her, she sprinted towards her home as fast as she could. It was nearly 10 p.m. already! She was glad she didn't have school tomorrow. She still had homework and she had to prepare dinner and she still had to write that letter to the health club and she had to send up her grades to her aunt and...

Orihime hummed a song to the beat of her footsteps, filled with epic lyrics about superheroes. Around the time she came home, it had 12 couplets.

* * *

It begun around a year ago. Sorimachi wasn't the first to see them and didn't believe his friends at first when they told him. He wasn't one to believe those kind of things easily at all. Movies about ghosts didn't scare him and he wasn't afraid for any of the seven legends that went about his school. He had always told himself that those kind of apparitions were bullshit, jokes created by no-life teachers and only believable for the weak minded. That Don Kanonji dude was just a hoax, an unloved attention seeker (though he had to admit, he set up a pretty cool show), and mediums were just a little more but swindlers, out to get the money you worked your ass off for.

Now, he still didn't believe any of those media crappers. Hell, he still didn't believe any of the paranormal shit that happened to himself yet.

The words had slipped out during the course of their daily beating of some Karakura High student.

They had come in a small group of three that day. Just as they where trashing around some high schooler to get some money out of the kid, Yutaka noticed something behind Oshima. But he and Oshima were too occupied with stealing the kid's Nintendo to notice his anxiety. He seemed off, but they didn't take any further notice from him. The guy had always been a weird one. When Oshima turned to Yutaka and ordered him to take the kid's lunch money they saw that his eyes were constantly shifting nervously between him and something behind him.

In reflex, Oshima had turned around to see what asshole wanted to pick a fight with him. When he that there was no one behind him he scolded scolded Yutaka for slacking off and pushed him back. Through the action he let the high schooler loose, who took his chance and ran away from the gangsters, blouse torn and bag trashed.

"Don't scare me like that, man," Oshima furrowed his brows at his henchman. "Ah, crap, ya let him go." He looked at the spot on which the younger boy had stood only a few seconds ago and spied around, searching for the boy racing away from the group. He sighted and looked at the coins in his hand. Only 200 yen. At least they still had the Nintendo. "The fuck ya needed ta do that for?"

Yutaka's face had paled and his eyes still focused on something behind Oshima. The men looked behind them again, still unable to see the thing on which their comrade's gaze was focused on.

"Will you quit that? You're creeping me out," Sorimachi scowled, his usual permanent scowl loosing a bit. "You're not scared of a little mist are you?"

Indeed, the thing Yutaka was supposedly staring at was only a vague white blur hanging midair. He wondered how it could be there. It actually didn't look like mist at all and it hung too low to be smoke coming from a chimney. What was the guy staring at?

"W-what? You don't see it?"

"What is it excatly that we havta see?"

"N-never mind, then."

Oshima tightened his grip on Yutaka and brought his face closer to the other's.

"You be pullin' my leg Aoyama? Got ya eyes blurred? Or do I need ta punch ya right into the asylum? Clean ya glasses and stop wastin time, worthless trash."

Oshima's eyes were burning with unspoken fire. His knuckles began to show white, his eyes were fixed directly at Yutaka's pupils and he seemed nervous, as if he'd been scared of something.

He abruptly let go of the boy and made a disapproving sound, completely shoving away the look he was giving the boy a few seconds ago. He popped his collar up and commanded his crew to move. Sorimachi and Aoyama obliged and hopped after him.

As they made their way to their headquarters (they were skipping school, as was usual on Thursdays) Oshima held a tight eye on Yutaka, eyeing his every movement. Yutaka himself was tensed up and he occasionally glanced over his shoulder. Whenever he did so, Oshima would follow his eyes for a moment, but quickly regaining his focus on Yutaka again.

Sorimachi wondered what the hell was up with the two of them. He knew Reiichi was keeping something from the two of them, but didn't find himself able to ask, afraid Oshima would get mad at him too. Whatever it was that his friend was hiding from them, it couldn't be good, as Oshima spoke his mind quite frequently.

"Rei," he spoke while putting his hand on his shoulder. "What's the matter man? You've been off since this morning." The man shrugged his hand off and discontinued his fixing gaze on the other boy. "Nothin's wrong man. I'm tryna keep this dog in line."

Yukata turned with a sweep his head to Oshima, scowl in place, feeling a little offended by his friend calling him a dog.

"Hey! There really was something you know!"

Sorimachi turned his head to Yutaka.

"Yeah right. Horse ass. Ghosts don't exist, you idiot."

"I never said it was a ghost..."

Yutaka looked at the ground, studying his footsteps as he walked. He put his hands in his pockets and hunched forwards.

"Then what was it, huh? Poisonous gas?"

"G-gas? I didn't see any gas."

"What are you talking about, man? What else but gas did you see?"

The group stopped in their tracks and Sorimachi looked at the other boy questioningly. Oshima had kept suspiciously quiet during their conversation and had paled at the question and shivered slightly.

"Uh, well..."

"Don't say it!" Oshima shouted abrupt. "Just fuckin' don't start, please. This is all bullshit. There are no ghost, ya hear me?"

Sorimachi raised an eyebrow.

"You don't really believe there's a ghost following us, do you? I mean, that's just..."

"I told you there are no ghosts!"

Oshima looked panicked now, his shoulders were tensed and he kept looking at the spot behind the other two men. Sorimachi now looked over his shoulder too, slightly anxious for what he might see there, but was only greeted by the vague blur that he had seen earlier.

"What the.."

"Do you see it?" Oshima asked hastily, before the other could even finish his sentence. "I.. I mean.."

"Are shitting me?" Sorimachi began to laugh, not a crazy laugh, but a mocking laugh. "Are you guys this thick-headed? You think that cloud is a ghost?"

After that, he had laughed a great time more for the upcoming couple of weeks, but when he found others uncomfortable by the white blurs he suddenly saw everywhere, he began to worry. Where they pulling his leg here? Or was there really something floating a couple of meters above the ground, visible to anyone but him and the rest of the Karakura population.

When he began to see the spectrals _too_ a couple of weeks later, he didn't laugh anymore.

* * *

"A fucking superhero? What the fuck are ya thinkin' man? This ain't no fairy's fuckin' wet fantasy 'bout some candy ass his glitter bulge,"

During the time they were being healed one of the boys had thanked the girl. Flustered as he was, he had told her that he considered her a hero, which made _her_ flustered.

His boss hit the younger boy not so gently on his head with his fists. The impact made the boy tremble. He crouched and hung over and clutched his head. He felt almost sorry for him.

They were back at their headquarters (a messy abandoned factory) and Oshima was rampaging. He threw away boxes to the side and kicked walls. He had cracked his hand when he had punched the metal door and occasionally licked up the blood through his speech. He had his fists balled at all times and they began to see alarmingly white. His muscles were tensed and he saw the fabric of his shirt ripping slightly at the edges. At one point he had taken of his right shoe and had thrown it at an innocent boy sitting on the couch they had placed in the middle of the room in front of a TV. The boy had fallen backwards and had shoved the TV off the cabinet, breaking the glass into a nice spider web.

"Do you fuckin' think there is anythin' such as heroes? There ain't no heroes here, never have been and if you keep fuckin' around like that ya gonna be killed one day,"

Lick.

"Heroes don't exist. The bitch jus' had luck. There's only the monsters and us and if we ain't beating them things, then who is? No one I tell ya. Them fuckin' "heroes" can't be showin' up every time that ugly skeleton shows up. That's why we have ta fight em, even if it means that those creatures will cull us. "

A couple of Oshima's men gulped at this. They had never seen their boss so pumped up over something. Not even his dominant behaviour towards other gang leaders was this aggressive. By now, Oshima was spitting through his words and his head became red. He grabbed his knife from out of his pocket and began stabbing down in the empty air, his followers backing away from him.

"WHY THE FUCK DID THAT UGLY SLUT INTERFERE."

Another lick.

Sorimachi, who had been in the gang for longer than he could remembered and was one of the first boys to join his gang, walked up to Oshima. He couldn't believe what his friend was saying.

He himself was the girl immensely grateful for healing him. Thanks to Oshima's incredulous behaviour he had almost been killed by the monster. He shuddered as he thought of the condition his arm had been in, almost being separated from his shoulder and gougin with blood. When he had been hit by the monster's bladed arms he hadn't dared to look at the right side of his body; his whole body had been numbed except for the entirety of his arm, from shoulder to fingertips.

When she came in and defeated the monster, only then he had dared to look. It had been a gruesome sight as he saw pieces of his skin hanging loosely over his flesh where he was cut by the monster. It had arms like blades and had cut through his arm like a katana slicing through flesh. He hadn't been able to move his body as his entire being felt like he was still being held down by the monster's gigantic arm. When his comrades had moved him over to the girl, he had cried in pain.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHY SHE INTERFERED."

This made Oshima stop in his moment of rage. Sorimachi had begun to see red and he spitted through his words. Oshima's gaze seemed to pierce through his soul and eyes locked between the two men. They both moved their facial muscles to the ugliest way they had done in years, except this wasn't a simple game of impress. Sorimachi balled his fist, pure wild energy flexing through his muscles, and wanted to hit the taller man to the point of sending him to the hospital, but he refrained from doing so. If he did, he would only get in trouble and that was precisely the thing he wanted to escape from. More conflict.

"SHE INTERFERED, BECAUSE YOU WERE BEING A STUPID MOTHERFUCKER WHO CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DANGER AND DANGER. IF IT WASN'T FOR HER, WE ALL WOULD'VE BEEN DEAD."

"You little..."

Oshima spoke the two words between clenched teeth, spitting them out, almost. Around them, their mob had begun to form a circle, shouting the word "fight! fight!" over and over in their eyes. They knew better by now than to actually phrase it and disrupt the eye contact between the two friends. The only sounds came from the row at the back who whispered names and bets about who would win this match. They all guessed Oshima, though they hoped for Sorimachi.

"And don't you fucking deny it," Sorimachi cut Oshima off, growling under his breath. "You are crazy. I'm not participating in your stupid games anymore."

"What the fuck do you mean by that?!"

Oshima had dropped his fake accent,

"I mean that I'm not tired of living. If you want to play the hero, you go ahead, but I'm not risking my life for nothing."

"So you just wanna quit? So you wanna give up because you're afraid of some _ghost_?"

Sorimachi spitted the saliva he had gathered in his mouth on the ground. Some _ghosts _they were.

"Yeah, I'm quitting. You've been a real ass lately and to be honest, I've wanted to quit for a while now."

His frown lessened a little and he looked at his friend, almost with compassion. He recalled all the times when his leader had got the sudden urges to challenge some gang leader, spitting on their turf and hitting the most nearby boy. It used to be fun, he and Oshima ruling over their place and beating everyone who didn't belong. He had put away his guilt and had robbed and harassed countless of people, just to do something in his spare time, together with Oshima. He remembered all the times his friend had scolded and threatened one of his own boys and found it a wonder they still stuck to him. He questioned himself for this too.

"This is goodbye, Rei-chan. Don't get yourself killed."

And with that, he left the building, leaving his friend, who kept screaming his name for a good ten minutes, behind. Other boys had restrained him from following him by bundling themselves up on his back.

Sorimachi wondered how many men would still stay with Reiichi after that episode. He wondered what he would be doing now, since the mob had been his family and life for years now. He guessed he should first try it with that Inoue girl.

* * *

**A note! **For the people who are confused about the date/time when Oshima's gang began to see ghosts: this story takes place a couple of months after the winter war and the gang began to see spirits quite a while before the fight (so around a year ago). I was always guessing the winter war war around december/januari ?

Also, I can't write Orihime for my life even though she's one of my favorite characters. Also, doctors and nurses can't actually tell a sick or wounded person that it's going to be okay. However, Orihime is a superwoman, so she can!


	3. Chapter 3 - Human (2)

Favorite chapter, favorite characters

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Human [part two]  
Unsheathe**

**-``-``-``-``-``-``-``-B-L-E-A-C-H-``-``-``-``-``-``-``**

If Ichigo would find out, he would surely kill him. It wouldn't be because he did something behind his back, or because he'd done something horrible. No, it would be because it was something between trust and friendship. Ichigo was his friend and Keigo -especially now- couldn't possibly dare to do something like this. Even if it was an accident.

Around a week ago, those two shinigami had wanted to stay at his (Mizuho's) house again. God knows why, as his sister only bugs the bald one and makes him wear hideous t-shirts she made herself, and whenever they were there they didn't seem to enjoy their time very much -unless Madarame wore those shirts again and his partner would laugh himself red in the face. He hadn't thought much of it, and really, there wasn't much to think of. They had come over a couple of times more over the past year and though he didn't like it (them) much, it wasn't a problem. He hadn't told Ichigo as he didn't want to address the subject on the matter of Soul Society. It wasn't that important anyway.

Well, it _hadn't_ been important anyway.

He had never wondered what it was like. He didn't dare think about what it was like. Besides the vague conversations between his guests, and his own temporal involvement when he had participated in something that could be called 'supernatural', he surprisingly couldn't find the need and will to ever think about how it would be like if he were to be a shinigami. Ichigo had never told him much about it, not that he blamed the guy for it, he _was _a busy guy after all, and he never really asked.

The only things he knew about them he had learned from own experiences. He had gathered that the monsters, so called Hollows, were ghosts and therefore ordinary people could not see them. He had learned that soul reapers really existed, and that they had their own hierarchy with their own leaders, followers and even employees, working together to defeat these "Hollows". He had caught up something from a conversation between the two shinigami at his home about some academy, so they must have special schools for them too. He was now certain the afterlife existed, though not at all what he expected, and it was a place called Soul Society.

But there was still things he did not know yet. How Ichigo, previously a semi-normal human, could possibly have obtained the powers of a shinigami, for example. For as far as he knew, shinigami were dead and during one of his happy hellos he had pounced upon Ichigo, checking for his pulse, and had found that his friend was very much alive. Ichigo had kicked him down for that, but it was worth it, he now knew for certain that his friend wasn't dead.

The fact is, dead people made him nervous. When he first began to see the spirits floating around him, he had internally freaked out, but kept up his charade of hyperactivity to cover his anxiety. If Mizuiro found out he was afraid for ghosts, his friend would never let it go.

Spirits made him nervous because they didn't feel right, especially the Hollow ones. They felt cold and, though he could see them just fine, it was as if a curtain was drawn before his eyes, hurting them when they floated by. His eyes had stung when he first had gazed upon the human formed shapes drifting in the sky. In the corner of his eyes began colored dots to flicker on the places he had seen them as soon as he looked away from them, as if his eyes were closed and he rubbed his eyelids. Wherever he was, spirits wanted to make themselves known to him. It was as if they wanted him to keep seeing them, forcing themselves through his eyelids to be acknowledged. He didn't want that. Dead people should just stay where they where; cremated or buried in the ground, protected by a coffin.

Whenever one would come too close to him, he felt his body become heavy and something would begin to stir in him, coating his entire being in what felt like light air. He didn't guess until later, when he spied on his guests converse again, that the feeling could be this so called 'Reiatsu': Spiritual presence. Spiritual presence all right, he'd rather not have this awareness of spirits. They would pop up unexpected and Mizuiro would laugh when they did so as his friend made jumpy movements.

He never wanted to look directly at their faces. Though they seemed human and some of them even seemed to laughed with each other, it didn't seem real, as if their presence was just a facade, as if they were not even there. He had learned to avoid them as much as possible. He should've done a better job at that.

He wished Mizuho would just refuse the two shinigami shelter, or at least ask _them_ to run her errands for once.

Keigo was cautious of going outside before dark. It wasn't like Hollows were more active at night, though it was still a reason why he wouldn't go out in the dark. In the evening, gangs such like Oshima's would roam the streets of Karakura, beating every innocent bystander to pulp for the fun of it. Like bloodhounds, Oshima's gang would locate Keigo, who was one of Oshima's favorite punching bags.

It was a common ritual between the siblings to argue over who would do the errands, though it was usually Mizuho who won, as the head of the house had the final word.

"Ahh sis! Why do I always have to run your errands? I'm super tired, don't do this to me!"

"Shut up. You're the only one who's dressed properly. Look at me I'm practically naked,"

His sister glanced an eye to the uninterested Ikkaku sitting at the kitchen table, hunched over a bowl, eating leftovers.

"Besides, I can't just let our guests behind."

"Then why don't you send one of them away?"

"What? Are you crazy I can't do that to my... guests. Have some manners, you."

Keigo huffed at this. She wouldn't have had any problems if it was only Ayasegawa who stayed here. Only, she probably would have kicked him out long before.

"Now, away you go, before you bitch too long and the shops are closing."

With a grunt Keigo grabbed the shopping list Mizuho held out to him and walked over to the kitchen table where her wallet lay. Ikkaku looked up from his bowl to Keigo and smiled mischievously, mouth stuffed with rice and lips pursed. A drop of curry dripped out of his mouth. He swallowed it all and went back to his bowl, still smiling satisfied.

_Yeah you laugh_, Keigo thought, _wait until Mizuho corners you and tries to wipe away those scraps from your lips._

Keigo turned away from the man, grabbed his coat and went out.

Thank god, thank god, thank god nobody wanted to bother him on this lone evening. He went (raced) to the store, got what he needed and made his way home again. Everything was great, until he felt a familiar cold breezing past his neck. He turned around in a whip, half expecting to see a spirit hovering a little above the ground, half to see a Hollow, but didn't see any. Instead, a familiar gang a little behind a metallic fence made themselves known by trashing around.

No, oh no, no not now, not when he was just a block away from home. Instinctual Keigo ducked away from them and held himself firm against a stone wall, protected from sight by the men. But instead of the group approaching him, they seemed to run away from him.

Something's not right.

Keigo had a feeling he knew what it was.

He ran as fast as he could towards his home, but got crashed to the ground a couple of meters forwards when a humongous beast landed before him, drilling it's claws into the earth and making it shake under it's pressure. It hunched over him and held it's jaw slightly apart, drool leaking out, making pools of saliva on the ground. Keigo let out a cry and tried to get up.

* * *

Ikkaku was alerted by an approaching presence. Shifting up from his chair at the kitchen table a familiar beeping came from his cell phone. He didn't need the information on it to locate the Hollow. Though his mission wasn't to eliminate any Hollows, he figured it couldn't do any bad as it was close by. Plus, it was a good chance of pace after all those weeks of observing.

He made a half hearted excuse to Mizuho and raced out of the door before she could ask further.

Outside, he immediatly popped up a Soul Candy and split himself from his gigai. As he felt the last strings of flesh being pulled form his soul he jumped in the air and sprinted over to the Hollow, giving the gikon the command to hide. He made a face as he saw the pathetic form of Mizuho's brother, completely useless and trembling, lying before the Hollow. Hadn't the boy yet learned to run away when one would attack him?

"Get out of the way!" he shouted over to the teen, who happily obliged. Keigo scrambled to the side and could just pull back his foot when the slinging sword came down before him when the other man cut off a few thick black fingers from the Hollow's right hand. It turned around and now took entertainment in Ikkaku.

The shinigami pulled his sword back up and watched in curiousity as he saw the Hollow's finger regenerating above him. It wasn't fast and pleasantly looking, it bubbled up like soap in water and it made blood drip on the ground, but it was quick enough to restore it's fingers in full health in a couple of seconds. Ikkaku grinned slightly. Finaly some challenge.

He was just about to swing it down again when he heard a familiar voice from behind the Hollow, making him startle in his attack.

Behind the Hollow's legs he could just see Mizuho standing still a little before her home. She shouted and looked up in awe as she witnessed the scene before her, and more importantly, the Hollow who was ungracefully loomed over Ikkaku.

"Take it down, Honey!" she shouted, not noticing the quaver in Ikkaku's actions after. Ikkaku stared at her for the brim of a second, wondering how the hell she was not afraid of it, why she wasn't running away and where the hell she got the nerves from to simply encourage him instead of running away and bring herself in safety. He opened his mouth to shout over to her to take cover but was cut off by Keigo taking his chance.

"Mizuho!" He stood up from his -not so safe- spot from the ground and lunged forward to his sister. "Mizhuho, you gotta get out of here!"

_I can't believe these guys, _Ikkaku thought and screamed "Idiots!" at the two siblings. The hollow, who had previously watched the spectacle with interest, turned around, bend it's legs and jumped over to the two, blocking them from their path to their home. Ikkaku took no time to follow it and shunpo'ed over to it.

It happened in a flash.

Without a second thought about the consequences, when the Hollow landed before him Keigo pushed his sister out of the way , and stood between her and the Hollow, spreading his arms in a poor attempt of protecting her from the monster. Meanwhile, Ikkaku had sprinted forwards, sword in position and ready to attack, and in the millisecond of sprinting towards the monster his sight was blurred, making the Hollow invisible from view. His feet barely touched the ground as he ran forwards, but came to a sudden halt just a bit too early to reach the Hollow. He heard a scream and just as he stopped using his shunpo, clearing his view again, he was blinded by a white, bright light.

With a thrill of ecstacy he watched in horror as he saw a black form erupting from the boy and cloaking him. Beside him, Mizuho let out a surprised cry when she saw the sword of the man she loved impaled in her younger brother's chest, right over where his heart should be. The Hollow roared in excitement when he felt the sudden amount in reiatsu risen and waited patiently of what would happen. The bright light lessened and moved like thick smoke from the human boy.

Mizuho let out a confused "huh", Ikkaku's eyes went wide, the Hollow let out a roaring cackle and Keigo's screaming stopped, leaving him only with a rasping breath.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?!"

"IDIOT! THIS IS _YOUR_ FAULT!"

As the light cleared form the boy, Ikkaku's zanpakuto disappeared from his chest. Ikkaku looked in fear as he saw that while his own Shihakushō was traded for a simple white shitagi, the boy's clothing were traded for his traditional shinigami garbs, complete from black hakama to a pair of straw waraji and -to his fear- a long, thin katana positioned on his back.

The Hollow roared in excitement again and swept it's arm forward, sending the newly made substitue shinigami flying to the ground. Mizuho screamed in response, calling her brother's name and begging him to stand up and fight. Ikkaku held her back and told her to not interfere, while he himself commanded the boy to fight too.

"Your sword, you idiot! Use your sword!"

Keigo scrambled away and ran away from the Hollow, who followed him easily. He felt panic rising up as he felt the heavy presence of the Hollow weighting on his back, following him with ease as he tried so hard to run away. It felt impossible for him to defeat that monster. It wasn't in his nature to fight and even Mizuiro would be a better hero than he was.

While he was running he reached for the sword on his back, but found that he couldn't unsheathe it. He let out tiny cries of defeat and tugged at the hilt. While he did so, the Hollow cackled at him in a mocking way. "I'll get you, I'll get you" it kept chanting, "I can run even harder, y'know?" It laughed at him and Keigo found himself desperate. He was angry at himself for intervering. A couple of days ago he had sworn himself to not get in touch with any spirit related activities anymore. Then why was it that right at _that_ moment he felt the need to play the hero? Ikkaku is right, he really was an idiot.

_I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die,_ he thought in sync with the laughter of the Hollow. From behind him he could hear Ikkaku's angry shouts commanding him to fight. _I can't fight, I can't fight_, he thought with anger and sadness. _You help me._

"I can't get it out!" he shouted over to him.

Deciding that it was done with this boring chasing mice game, the Hollow gained speed and bit his prey's ankles. Keigo jumped up with a cry as he felt the blunt teeth of the monster scraping at his feet.

Ikkaku decided he had enough of this useless running away. The idiot only ran in circles anyway, it made him look ridiculous. Though he had temporarily lost part his shinigami powers, he still was stronger and faster than the average human; he had only shared half of his powers and his muscles weren't for show.

In a couple of seconds he shunpo'ed next Keigo, keeping up with him easily. Man, the kid really didn't try, did he? The man's sudden arrival seemed to startle Keigo, making him almost stumble and fall.

"H-help me, please!" he pleaded, but Ikkaku only gave him a pitying look. "What do I do? My sword won't unsheathe!" Keigo was on the brim of crying now.

"You're the shinigami now. It's your problem now," he said to him. "I'm not the one playing for hero."

When the Hollow reached out to the other man, Ikkaku dodged with ease. Though he didn't think that the Hollow would go after him now that there was a much more interesting and powerful prey for him to gnaw on, he should be more cautious as he expected to regain his powers in no time. He was strong and the only reason why he lost all of his powers was because he didn't want the fight to linger and had put more reiatsu than usual in his zanpakuto.

When the Hollow prepared for another attack, Ikkaku took an arm of the foolish boy and swung him to the side, roughly throwing him on an open spot in a park. The Hollow, caught off with the sudden chance of direction, turned it's body, slipped further forwards as it's body was too heavy to suddenly stop, and followed the soul again, only now with a large gap between them. Ikkaku flash stepped to Keigo's side again and took him further away from the Hollow.

"Bu- but how do I defeat it? " Keigo asked with heavy breaths when they were safely (for now) settled on a roof top.

"Idiot!" Ikkaku smacked him on his head. "I told you to use your zanpakuto." Keigo, rubbing his head softly, gave him a curious look.

"What's a zanpakuto?"

"Your katana! Your sword!"

Keigo didn't understand why the man was so angry with him. Sure, he did something stupid, but did that mean he could just scold him for whatever? He wasn't Ichigo, he wasn't strong, he couldn't catch up with things so easily.

"Argg, I can't believe this. Soul Society is going to kill me for this."

Soul society? Keigo frowned his eyebrows. "Oi, S-Soul Society? They don't need to know about this right?" He wasn't sure if he wanted to becoming a substitue shinigami just yet. He valued his life far too much for that.

"Of course they are gonna find out! Nothing stays a secret for those leeches and after the whole fiasco with Ichigo they will either wanna kill me, or you."

Keigo's face went from worried to absolutely terrified. He had vaguely caught a scene of what one of those captains could do and he didn't feel like dying just yet. Recalling an action sequence from that day he became vaguely aware of the spirit that stood before him. It wasn't only the captains who bore such power. Even a mere spirit could scare him to death, just as they had almost done so several times.

"But didn't they only find out only months later in Ichigo's case?"

This made the man before him stop pondering in his worries. The kid was right, though he wouldn't admit that. If things went according to the usual process, he would only stay like this for a couple of hours until he wore out of all his reiatsu and if no one other than them would notice, then the captain commander surely wouldn't either. No harm done. But on the other hand, if he would return to the sereitei and he would keep quiet about it and they would find out about it_ later_, his punishment would be far greater than that of now. Then again, he was in the third seat and had always been quite chummy with his captain and lieutenant. Maybe they would go soft on him for that, maybe he would get demoted.

Their uncomfortable silence was interupted by a familiar presence accompanied by a roar. A shiver went up Keigo's spine, thinking he never would get used to that sound. Ikkaku stared at Keigo in what seemed a look of which only he himself knew what it meant. Ikkaku nodded at him, but when Keigo didn't seem to understand what he meant he frowned in confusion. Ikkaku nodded again, to which Keigo responded with furrowed brows and a shaking head. What the hell was he doing?

"Yeah you go after it then!" Ikkaku told him somewhat annoyed and made a waving gesture. "Enough rest for now! Kick it's ass!"

Keigo, on the contrary, panicked and exclaimed: "I told you already, I can't unsheathe it!" and demonstrated by pulling his hilt furiously. He began to sweat as he felt the Hollow coming closer, it's roar echoing in his head and making him tremble where he stood. Ikkaku grunted a "god what a weak sack of shit" and moved over to the boy's back, pulling at the sword which indeed seemed to be stuck in the sheath. Keigo was being shaken back and forwards by the other man's strength. They both started to cuss as the Hollow came closer.

"Shit, shit shit," Ikkaku said as he struggled with the hilt, putting a foot up to push on Keigo's back for support. He didn't understand why the katana wouldn't give; half of his power was enough to give even a bit of a human's spiritual power a boost. The boy should have more than enough power to unsheathe it, unless...

"Use your sheath to hit it."

"Whaaat?"

Ikkaku stopped pulling at the hilt and gave him an exasperated look. He really had to point his finger to everything for the boy, did he? He gestured to the clip that sealed the guard and told him to unlock the belt. The boy did so with haste and held the sword before him, bracing himself for the impact he presumed would come. He waited in anticipation for the approaching presence, his hands wet with cold sweat and trembling legs. Beside him Ikkaku waited for his powers to return. He could feel his power rising already, but not enough to hit the fullest as he was still clothed in his shitagi.

Ikkaku had no intention of helping the human boy. As a member of the 11th division he stood strongly behind the belief of the will of the strongest. If the boy couldn't manage to take care of himself, he had in the first place no right to authorize his shinigami powers. But as he was staying at Mizuho's home, who had been so hospitable to let Yumichika and he stay over, he couldn't just let her brother getting killed by the first best Hollow the boy encountered. Ikkaku hoped for the boy that he could master his zanpakuto and kill the Hollow before he regained his powers. It would be a good life lesson for the kid to learn. He glanced a look at the boy and took pity in him. Not even harmed that badly by the Hollow and he was already shaking on his legs. He wondered how he could be such a pussy when he had a sister like Mizuho.

They weren't caugh off by surprise when they spotted the enormous Hollow; they could hear it's roar from miles away and it didn't bother to hide it's presence, making Ikkaku think that this Hollow was either too stupid or too eager. To Ikkaku's surprise, Keigo stood his ground as he saw the claws of the monster clasp themselves in the roof panels, climbing it's way up on the roof. Without a moment though Keigo lunged forwards and hit the Hollow on it's mask with his sword. Though this didn't do much in general besides dizzying the Hollow and releasing it's grasp on the roof, Keigo couldn't help but feel a pang of pride well up. At least he was a little less useless now.

Before the Hollow could stand up again, Keigo jumped from the roof and in front of the Hollow and hit it again with full force. By the third hit the Hollow didn't do as much as swat away the approaching object as if it were simply waving away a fly, cackeling in the action.

Ikkaku looked up from above and found the the tactic the other boy was making quite interesting. Hitting it until it didn't move anymore. A great technique for someone fighting with a zanpakuto agains a normal Hollow, but not for a lower than first year shinigami academy student substitue shinigami with only a latex sheath. The most damage Keigo seemed to give it was a headache.

With one firm hit, the Hollow hit the sword away, but with a disgruntled Keigo still attached. The boy made a backwards summersault through the air and landed just barely on his feet, zanpakuto firmly clasped to his chest. Ikkaku let out a whistle at this. Though he was greatly bored with the fight, he had to give the kid some credit. When it came down to it, he could stand his ground.

In a flash the Hollow stood before him and bit down on him. Keigo let out a scream in surprise and pain as he felt the monster's blunt teeth colliding with the bones on his left side, it's mouth being tightly clenched around the boy's shoulder. The boy shook his body, trying to free himself from the Hollow's grasp, and repeatedly hit the Hollow's mask with his harmless, powerless fists. It only made the Hollow bite harder on his shoulder, it's teeth gnashing over bones, making Keigo scream at the movement. As he was brought down to the ground he looked with pleading eyes at Ikkaku, screaming "Help me!"

Just as he was contemplaiting to help the boy, a familiar presence made it's way over the group. In a millisecond the Hollow lay on it's side on the ground with a zanpakuto drilled in it's side. Blood and spit were spat when the Hollow roared at his invisible attacker who now was positioned on it's side. Yumichika gave the monster a satisfied smile as he impaled the Hollow's mask.

"Ah, now my clothes are ruined. Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of these garbs?" As he spoke he caught a final glimpse of a smile behind the disappearing mask. He swiped his zanpakuto clean on the grass, sealed it in his sheath, and still spoke when he turned around to face the bloodied gaze of the other shinigami.

"Ikkaku, I can't believe you were too weak to defeat such an-" He was stopped midway through his sentence when he saw whose face it was beneath red glimmering of fresh blood. Eyes wide, eyebrows high, and lips pursed he looked in bewilderment as he took in the face of the young Asano.

"Ikkaku," he spoke, not leaving his gaze from the boy's shocked face. "Care to explain?"

From above, Ikkaku tensed up and made a choking sound. He jumped from the roof and landed beside his friend with the face of a man who has seen pain and suffer.

"It was an accident and HIS fault."

"Hey! You're the one who rammed a sword through my chest!" Keigo got up from his paralyzed state, wiped away the blood from his face and clenched his arm when a painful shock went through it. Ikkaku gave Yumichika a pleading look.

"Don't tell anyone." he said, making the other man laugh.

"So it really _was _your fault!"

"No it wasn't!" but his friend didn't listen and only laughed harder through his words. "I just don't want any trouble! Giving him my shinigami powers is one thing, but killing Hollows wasn't even our job in the first place." Ikkaku spoke the latter sentence softer, guarded from Keigo's curious look.

"Geez, worrying like this is nothing like you, Ikkaku." He wiped away a tear of joy and lowered his laughter. "You are going to be fine. The most they can do is hold in your paycheck for like... a year. You're not gonna be executed or something."

Keigo made a face as he picked up the word. "E-executed?! A-am I going to-"

Yumichika regained his laughter again, clutching his sides as he viewed the boy's dumbstruck face. Keigo let out a nervous laugh, unsure of what to think of the older man's amusement. Ikkaku let out a laugh too, catching up with his friend's humor.

"They are going to if they need ya!" He roared with laughter now too, joining his friend in the fit.

They stayed like that for a while, smacking each other on their backs when a new joke erupted from their drollery, but without Keigo, who was standing uncomfortable in their high spirits. After what seemed hours for him, what really were only a few minutes, their laughter died down and Keigo started to ask the real questions.

"So, when will I be freed from this black prison?" He asked while pulling at his sleeves. Yumichika stifled a laugh.

"For as long as you still have enough reiatsu to keep up with with the level of spiritual presence you would normally have to become a shinigami."

"Which means?"

God, he really had to chew everything for the boy, didn't he? Ikkaku crossed his arms and gave him an annoyed look. Yumichika explained further before his companion could snarl at the boy and confuse him further.

"It means that if you still have enough reiatsu to become a "full fledged" shinigami, you can't turn back. When Ikkaku impaled your chest, your body became a soul. If you run out of energy, your spiritual body will automatically turn back to your physical body."

"And how do I do that?"

"Well, you could try becoming exhausted through fighting, but since it seems that you are already on the edge of collapsing, I would say that it can happen at any given moment."

"Yeah, about that," Ikkaku rubbed his bald head and eyed the zanpakuto that lay forgotten in the grass a little further. "He didn't actually fight anything. His zanpakuto wouldn't unsheathe."

Yumichika frowned at this, but wavered away the thoughts that lingered in his head. It shouldn't be that important. This was a one time only event, no need to think this all through.

"In that case, we have to do the same thing Captain Kuchiki did with Ichigo," and to Keigo's disgust, the shinigami pulled out his zanpakuto and held it up. "We have to cut off your spiritual energy flow."

Before Keigo could mutter a "what", Yumichika had swung down his sword on Keigo's shoulder. He could barely let out a scream before he collapsed on the ground. Just as the man's sword met with the boy's uniform, behind him Ikkaku's energy collided once more with him, cloaking him in his acquainted attire. He stretched his arms and felt the comfort of the material around him while muttering a "finaly". The companions both looked at the lifeless form of the boy wondering just what they had to do with him. After a moment of bickering, Ikkaku swung the boy over his shoulder, complaining about how much the teen weight despite his complete uselessness, and took off in the direction of the Asano residence.

At home, Mizuho had -probably for the first time- complains when her brother was unceremoniously dumped on the couch. For the first time since she had met the two shinigami, she scolded them, if not only a little, for bringing home her brother in this condition and forgetting the errands she had asked for. They got kicked out of the house, being told that they should get the stuff she had asked for first before they could come in again, as a punishment. Despite that it was late, they shrugged and did as she demanded. They still had to check up on their work and though they didn't think much would happen in the couple of hours they had lost, their bosses (minus Zaraki) would still be annoyed with their incompetence. They checked up on the house they were supposed to observe and went to the store for Mizuho. Contemplating if they should use a memory wiper on the girl as she had previously proven to be able to see spirits and Hollows, they decided against it for that reason.

* * *

When Keigo woke up the next morning, he felt sore and after regaining his memory of what happened the previous night, he couldn't image how Ichigo had not turned crazy by now. Or maybe that was the reason why he looked so grumpy all the time. He was only glad it was a once in a lifetime experience.


End file.
